Maybelline Color Tattoo Pure Pigments

I believe this is a brand new product! I popped into my Shoppers Drug Mart the other morning to find this strange little jar that looked like a Color Tattoo, but it was made of plastic instead of glass. I got so excited when I realized what it was because I had heard that these were coming, however, I have never seen or head anyone talk about them. I absolutely love the Color Tattoos (I'll be posting about the limited edition 2013 shades soon!), and was interested to give these a try. So I feel like it is a real discovery (for me, anyways. I'm sure lots of people have already tried them..). 

Maybelline Color Tattoo Pure Pigments
left: Breaking Bronze
right: Barely Brazen

Anyways, these are the two Maybelline Color Tattoo Pure Pigments that I picked up. I chose Breaking Bronze and Barely Brazen. So not the most adventurous choices, but very wearable. The other colours available included a deep blue, purple, teal, black, gold and dark brown. The two I selected were definitely two of the most neutral. 

The product comes in a small plastic pot that includes a sifter inside. They were $9.99 each. The pigment itself is very smooth and silky feeling. They blended very nice, however, Breaking Bronze was slightly easier to blend than Barely Brazen for some reason. Both are gorgeous, and work well together, or blended with other shadows. I look forward to incorporating these with the shadows in my Meet Matte palettes from theBalm. I think they would be a nice complement to the matte look that I have been wearing a lot lately. 

I have not tried using these wet yet, but I would imagine that you could create a beautiful look that way. 

left: Breaking Bronze
right: Barely Brazen

Have you tried this new product yet?

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Mini Haul - Tarte

A few weeks ago Tarte was featured on Hautelook, which of course, I check daily. I just picked up a couple of items - two bronzers and a highlighter. I really like Tarte products, so I'm excited when they pop up on Hautelook, which they do on a fairly regular basis.

Amazonian Clay Mineral Bronzer in Hotel Heiress

Amazonian Clay Bronze to Go in Park Ave Princess

Tarte's Park Ave Princess has been a go-to bronzer for me this year - I received a deluxe sample of it from Sephora somewhere along the line and since it is very portable, I've taken it on all of my travels. I just love the finish and the subtle, but not-too-subtle colour that it gives me. Since I have used it so much, I was running low, so I thought that I would pick another one up. Hautelook's price was $9 for the deluxe sample and mini retractable brush.

I had not yet tried the Amazonian Clay Mineral Bronzer in Hotel Heiress. For some reason in the above pictures, Hotel Heiress appears lighter than Park Ave Princess. This is not the case. Hotel Heiress is definitely the darker of the two. I have to be a bit more careful in applying this shade as it is easier to over-apply. For this reason, I would say that I prefer Park Ave Princess, but the formula is still beautiful and if your skin is more of a medium or darker tone, you would really enjoy Hotel Heiress. Hautelook's price was $10 for the full-size product. 

Both bronzers are quite long-wearing on me. There is no shimmer in either of these products, but I would not say the finish is completely matte. Perhaps you would consider the finish more of a satin-glow. They give you a nice healthy glow. I would say that you can use these for contouring, but they can also be used allover to get a nice sun-kissed look.

left: Hotel Heiress
right: Park Ave Princess

I also picked up a highlighter - Amazonian Clay Shimmering Powder in Rose. This is a really gorgeous soft highlighting powder with just a hint of pink. The shimmer is very subtle, so it is a nice product to use anytime without worrying about looking too over the top. Hautelook's price was $12 for the full-size product.

Hope you enjoyed my mini haul from Tarte!

Thanks for reading!

NARS Pierre Hardy Blush Palette

If you are looking for an absolutely gorgeous new blush for summer, you need to take a look at the new NARS Pierre Hardy Blush Palette in Boys Don't Cry. I had heard about this new collection coming out, and had seen photos of the products, but when I swatched this blush, I had to get it.

The collection consists of two blushes - Rotonde and Boys Don't Cry, as well as several nail polish duos. I'm on a bit of a hiatus as far as purchasing nail polishes, so I skipped looking at those. However, the blushes are gorgeous!

top: Rotonde
bottom: Boys Don't Cry
source: Sephora

left: heavily swatched
right: blended out

As you can see from the above swatch, this blush is extremely pigmented, as are most Nars blushes. A light hand is definitely necessary! Blended out however, the look is a gorgeous, healthy, peachy pink cheek that is perfect for summer. Once applied, I wondered if I had something similar to this. I thought perhaps it was similar to MAC's Stereo Rose, which I had picked up recently when it was re-promoted as part of a collection. So I did a couple of comparison swatches:

l to r: Boys Don't Cry, MAC Stereo Rose, Tarte Achiote

Boys Don't Cry is the most vibrant of the bunch. Stereo Rose, while it also gives a peachy pink cheek, it is more shimmery, and less vibrant. Tarte Achiote is probably the most similar colour I own, however, it does not give the same intensity. You might not need to pick up the Nars version if you have Achiote, but I'm sure glad to have it in my collection!

Thanks for reading!

Some Inglot Purchases

Everytime I'm in New York, I make a point to stop at either the Inglot counter in Macy's, or the Inglot store (or both!). I just love their shadows and the Freedom system. If you aren't familliar with Inglot, they have an extremely wide selection of shadows that come in an individual pan. You can select the colours you want and then purchase an empty palette to arrange them in. I believe you can get palettes that hold 2, 4, 5, 10 or 20 individual shadows (there may be more, but these are the ones I know of). This time, I filled up a quad, and purchased another three shadows that I might just put in one of my Z-Palettes. I also purchased a lipstick and a lipliner, which was new for me - I've tried Inglot glosses and blushes, but never lipstick or liner. I'm really happy with my whole purchase.

I would say that Inglot shadows are comparable to other high-end shadows. I find them to have great pigmentation and staying power. One other pro with Inglot is the price. I believe each shadow is only $6 (USD), and the empty quad was $10.

My only real dislike about these eyeshadows is the naming system! They are all numbers that make it really hard to remember what you have or don't have. On top of this, once you put the individual pan into the palette, the number is hidden as it is on the bottom of the pan, so you have to take a pin out and carefully remove the pan. It's a bit annoying. But before I went to New York I made a list of all the colours that I already have so that I didn't purchase any duplicates. I learned from my previous mistake - I already have two pans of 409! This is just a minor complaint though. Overall, I highly recommend these!

Here is what I got:

top row l to r: 34, 352 344
middle row l to r: matte 373, DS 488
bottom row l to r: 445, DS 498

Swatches top to bottom: matte 373, DS 488, 445, DS 498

Inglot lipstick #113 and liner #859

Swatches - Inglot lipstick #113 and liner #859

As I mentioned, I picked up my first Inglot lipstick and lipliner. I'm really happy with both as the colours are gorgeous. I ended up using them everyday in New York and have been reaching for them a lot since returning home. I find the lipstick to be very long wearing, although I do not believe it is marketed as such. I'll definitely grab another one next time I'm at an Inglot counter. The liner is great too - it is a nice soft, neutral pinky-nude shade that goes with everything. And I love the blending brush on the end! 

All in all, I'm still very impressed with Inglot products and would recommend them to anyone!

Thanks for reading!

Huge Wet n Wild Haul!

In Canada, it can be difficult to find all of these amazing Wet n Wild products that are so loved in the online makeup community. As someone who rarely shops at Walmart, I would never have stumbled upon the Color Icon trios on my own. I think it was probably Emily at Beauty Broadcast who first introduced these to me in her You Tube videos. In my local Walmart, they do carry the full permanent line, however I have never seen any of the limited edition palettes, or special collections like the Fergie line. But that doesn't stop me! I ended up placing a couple of online orders - one at Nonpareil Boutique and another at Beatyjoint. So yeah, even if you are in Canada, you can get your hands on all of these great products. I think I spent less than $100 and ended up with pretty much the full range, that included the spring limited edition palettes, some of the older limited edition palettes that I had missed, the six-colour palettes, all of the Color Icon blushes, the bronzer, etc. I may have gone overboard, but I always feel like I have to justify the shipping and handling charges, so I buy more. Also, often there are discounts offered for spending a certain amount. 

So anyways, here are some pictures and thoughts on what I got.

Spring Forward Limited Edition Palettes: Going in the Wild and Nude Awakening

Wet n Wild Limited Edition Palette - Going in the Wild

Wet n Wild Limited Edition Palette - Nude Awakening (Sorry, swatches are upside down..)

These two palettes are really pretty. I've read reviews that criticized the pigmentation and mentioned that these are not up to par with the quality of the previously released eight-pan palettes, but I'm not sure that I agree with that. I haven't used them for a significant period of time yet, but they seem to apply quite nicely from what I have seen so far.

The top palette - Going in the Wild is perfect for this spring with the pretty pastels. The purples aren't extremely bold, but it is easy to create a soft pretty look.

The bottom palette - Nude Awakening is the one that has been compared to the Urban Decay Naked palettes. It is full of really great neutrals and is extremely wearable, not only on a daily basis, but in any season of the year. I can see this becoming a go-to item in my collection.

Where's the Party Limited Edition Palettes

top: Sparkle Til Morning
bottom l to r: Shimmer The Night Away, Drinking A Glass of Shine

This limited edition collection consists of three palettes: Sparkle Till Morning, Shimmer The Night Away and Drinking A Glass Of Shine. So far, I've only really used the top palette in this collection - Sparkle Till Morning. This is the only eyeshadow that I took with me when I traveled to New York for a week (??!!? I normally travel with much more..), and it was all I needed! Of course the reason I only took this one palette was that I knew I would buy others, but you really can get away with a simple palette like this for a whole week and still be able to create different looks that match to your mood or outfit. I was really happy with this, and really cannot stop using it. That pink shade in the top right corner is sooo gorgeous. I'm obsessed with it. Anyways, I still have to try the other two palettes.

Color Icon Blushes

top row l to r: Mellow Wine, Heather Silk
bottom row l to r: Pearlescent Pink, Berry Shimmer

These blushes are really great. I would say that they are comparable to many high-end blushes out there. Often drugstore blushes lack pigmentation, and you need to really layer them on to get the result you want, but with these, I just tap my brush in lightly, and there is enough product. I'm really enjoying using these.

Color Icon Bronzers

l to r: Goddess and Princess

So far I have tried the Goddess shade, which I thought was very pretty while I was applying it, but in natural light it turned out to be much too pink-toned for me. Since you can see yellow undertones in my neck, it does not look right to have this pink bronzer on my skin. Unfortunately this will not work for me, but I have yet to try the Princess shade. It appears less pink, so hopefully it will work out.

Color Icon Eyeshadow Singles

top row l to r: Nutty, Brulee, Kitten
bottom row l to r: Golddigger, Sellout

I have to say that Nutty is the colour that I reach for the most out of these. It is a really perfect neutral taupe-y brown colour that is great for allover the lid or blending out other colours. I haven't used the others very much, but I'm excited to give them a try.

Color Icon Eyeshadow Trios

I have to admit that I purchased the Silent Treatment trio as a backup. Yes, I already have it. But it is just gorgeous. It is a perfect neutral trio that that can be worn in a more natural way for everyday, or can be intensified for evening. I picked up I Got Good Jeans at the same time because it was something a bit different for me. It is very pretty as well, with the navy and the gold.

Color Icon 6-pan Eyeshadow Palettes

l to r: Greed, Lust, Vanity

The Vanity palette is one that I hear quite a bit about. I was a bit disappointed, however. I found that the matte and shimmery nude/ivory colours were very nice, even the matte light brown was a decent contour shade, but the gold and the two deeper browns did not give me the rich colour pigment that I've come to expect based on the trios that I have already been using. I was able to make a nice eye look out of this palette, but it wasn't the look that I had in mind.

Mega Last Lipstick

901B Think Pink and 903C Just Peachy

Top: 903C Just Peachy
Bottom: 901B Think Pink

I really like these lipsticks. For such a cheap product, I didn't have very high expectations, even though I have heard a lot of good things about them. They are a bit on the dry side, but of course the staying power makes up for this, so layer with a bit of balm, and it isn't really a problem. The colours are both quite pretty.

Tell me, have you been loving Wet n Wild lately?

Thanks for reading!

IPSY Glam Bag - May 2013

I mentioned in this post that I had recently subscribed to the monthly subscription service, IPSY Glam Bag and was thinking of doing a comparison between this and Glossybox. However, I received my May package last Wednesday when I was in New York, and upon opening it the other night, it was way too good to wait! The timing is a bit off to do a comparison review - I received my IPSY Glam Bag halfway through May, while I'm not expecting to receive my May Glossybox until the first week of June, so I'm going to go ahead and show you what I got. I think this is the first time I was this excited about a subscription box, and I've tried several (Glossybox, Topbox, Luxebox).


For your information, the total subscription price ended up being $174CAD after the conversion to Canadian dollars, etc. This works out to $14.50 / month. I believe the total cost is $10 / month if you are in the USA.

Here is everything I got:

First of all, everything came in this super cute little cosmetics bag. This is a great little bag to carry a few items around with you in your purse, so I'll get a lot of use out of this. I believe a bag comes every month, but I'm not positive on that, so we'll see.

St. Tropez One Night Only Instant Glow Body Lotion - I have not yet tried any of the St. Tropez tanning products, but I have been meaning to for a while now. This is different as it does not develop over time, but rather it is an instant tan that washes off in the shower. I guess it would be good for a night out, etc. It is transfer-resistant, so hopefully it will not rub off on clothing at all, but I may test it with older clothes first! Anyways, I'm excited to try this because I cannot wear dresses without some sort of colour on my legs.

Juice Beauty Reflecting Gloss in Pink - this gloss is gorgeous! It has a sweet fruity smell and is absolutely not sticky at all. I normally love Juice Beauty products, but have not yet tried any of their cosmetics, so I was really happy to get this. The colour is actually more of a mauve than pink, like the name, but it is exactly the colour that I would have selected for myself.

Yaby Conealer in Buff - I have never heard of Yaby, let alone tried it before, but I will likely buy more of this concealer, as well as look into what other products are available from this brand. I used it today over my regular foundation, just in the areas I needed it, and the coverage is really nice. The concealer is creamy and easy to blend. The colour seemed to melt right into my skin, even though I was worried it would be a bit dark. It worked great. Also, this little pan popped right into my Z-Palette for safe storage. 

Mirabella Perfecting Powder - I used this to set my makeup this morning. It is a nice powder. I'll have to use it for a little while to see if it is different from my other setting powders. This product is talc, paraben, and gluten-free.

Zoya Nail Polish in Blu - this was the only disappointment - not because I don't like it, I actually already have it! You might have seen it here. I wish I had received one of the other colours from this collection. Blu is from the Zoya Lovely Collection that came out this spring. I would have loved to try the pink or the gold. Oh well..

As for the cost, a full size Zoya polish is about $8.50, and the Juice Beauty lip gloss is around $14 (this particular version hasn't been released yet, but I did see a similar gloss from the brand selling for this amount). So just with these two products you are getting more than the price paid. Impressive!

Anyways, all in all, I was really, really impressed with my first IPSY experience. I can't wait for my next bag! 

Thanks for reading!

Where Have I Been?

Maybe you didn't notice, but I haven't posted since last Monday - I've been in NYC! I had wanted to post while I was away, but did not really get a chance. Anyways, I'm back now, and had a wonderful time. For the shopping and makeup obsessed, there really is no better place to visit than New York. I really had to restrain myself, but I did pick up a few things that I will be sharing over the next little while. For now, here is a tiny taste of my week...

Talk to you soon!

My YSL Lipstick Habit

So I only recently began loving YSL lip products, but when I love something, it really shows! This is my collection so far, and I have been seriously resisting the urge to pick up more! I guess I am a bit of a sucker for beautiful packaging, and I gave into the hype, but I do really enjoy using these products and find myself reaching for them quite often. 

l to r: Rouge Volupte Shine #9 Nude in Private, Rouge Volupte Shine #15 Corail Intuitive, Rouge Pur Couture #1 Le Rouge, Volupte Sheer Candy #6 Luscious Cherry, Rouge Volupte #1 Nude Beige, Rouge Volupte #29 Opera Rose

Rouge Volupte Shine #9 Nude in Private and Rouge Volupte Shine #15 Corail Intuitive

Rouge Volupte Shine #15 Corail Intuitive

I picked up both of my Rouge Volupte Shines during Sephora's VIB event. I generally try to buy these during discount specials or when Murale is having a cash in your points event due to the pricepoint on these. I'm really loving this formula, especially for summer. Last summer I was into the Sheer Candy version, but the Rouge Volupte Shine is kind of the best of both worlds as there is a bit more staying power than the Sheer Candy, but you get the lipstick feel of the Rouge Volupte. Anyways, I really like both of these, but I'm particularly enjoying Corail Intuitive, and included it in my April favourites here.

Rouge Pur Couture #1 Le Rouge

I don't wear red lipstick very often, but I think it is good to have at least one that you really like for that special occasion. This is a really gorgeous true red that feels great on the lips. I applied this with a red liner from Rimmel to make sure that the edges were tidy, but I think this is a perfect red shade for any skintone.

Volupte Sheer Candy #6 Luscious Cherry

If you are not ready for a bold red lip, like the one above, you could always go for a red lip using a balm form. This balm is extremely pigmented, yet sheer and very wearable. I wore this all last summer and took it with me when I traveled for a fresh look. A great bonus is that you can apply this red without a mirror. 

Rouge Volupte #1 Nude Beige, Rouge Volupte #29 Opera Rose

Rouge Volupte #1 Nude Beige

These were my first two YSL lipsticks. At first I wasn't used to the texture of these - it is very slick so it takes some time to get used to, but now I just love them. Nude Beige is a gorgeous nude and Opera Rose is a perfect true pink. 

What's your favourite YSL lipstick shade?

Thanks for reading!

My New Favourite Palette!

Meet Matte Nude! I recently received my order that I placed during theBalm's 50% off sale, back in April. It took forever to arrive, which I think is partly due to the issues they had with their new website, but I have to say that it was worth the wait. I got a ton of great products, at a pretty good price. The shipping charge was steep, but at the end of the day, I still paid much less than if I bought these locally. 

For now, I just want to talk about the Meet Matte Nude palette. I was unsure if I needed this (how can I really justify any new eyeshadows at this point???), since I do already have the original Meet Matte, as well as several other "nude" palettes. But I'm really glad I picked this one up because it has  some of the prettiest matte shadows I have seen. Sometimes mattes can be a bit difficult to blend, but I had no problem with these. I got the palette Friday, and I have worn it everyday since. 

There is enough variety that you could create a number of different looks. So far, I've really been loving Matt Hung as a crease shade and Matt Malloy is a really great highlighting shade, or lid shade if you are going for a bright-eye look. Matt Lombardi and Matt Singh are both great for blending, and of course the darker browns are perfect for darkening out the outer V area. 

And here are the swatches (no primer was used):

l to r: Matt Johnson, Matt Garcia, Matt Malloy

l to r: Matt Rosen, Matt Wood, Matt Singh

l to r: Matt Abdul, Matt Lombardi, Matt Hung

Just to compare, I thought I would show the original Meet Matte palette as well. I got this quite some time ago from Hautelook, but for some reason, I have not used this one very often at all. As you can see, it is quite a bit smaller than the Meet Matte Nude palette, but it is a very nice compact size that would be great for travel. Also, this one includes an applicator, although I don't really have a preference either way as I rarely use these.

l to r: Matt Smith, Matt Gallagher, Matt Ramirez

l to r: Matt McDonald, Matt Horowitz, Matt Chung

l to r: Matt Batali, Matt Schilling, Matt Patel

Now that I'm looking at all of these swatches, I can see that I really should be using this palette a lot more! I think the blues kind of threw me off, but a gorgeous daytime neutral eye could be created using Matt Smith, Matt Gallagher and Matt Patel. I will definitely pull this one out so that I remember to get using it more!

Have you tried either of the Meet Matte palettes? 

Thanks for reading!